Prime Rib and Rub

Cook up something special to bring in the New Year by making a succulent and juicy prime rib. Prime rib, with marbled fat for the best taste and tenderization, is one of the best cuts of beef. Once you know the secret to cooking it, it is quite easy.

The tradition of cooking a Prime Rib at my house began about ten years ago. This was my husband's idea. After a lot of trial and error, including breaking a baking dish in the oven, setting off fire alarms and cooking too long, he has finally mastered the perfect prime rib.

Rubbing the seasonings on the meat and letting it sit overnight, gives it the best taste. It allows the meat to absorb all of the flavors. However, we've also forgotten to do the rub the night before and did it about an hour before we cooked it, and it still had a wonderful taste.

The key to cooking it, is cooking on high for a short period of time, 5 minutes per pound, to get a beautiful brown color on the outside. Then, let it rest in the closed oven for a couple more hours, to cook the inside. The center of the meat should be a beautiful pink color.

Prime rib is best served rare or medium rare. The internal temperature will rise after it sets for a few minutes, so be sure to not over cook.

For a rare roast: 115°F.

For medium rare: 120°F.

For a medium: 130°F.

Don't forget the au jus. Au jus is a light broth/gravy that is made with the dripping of the prime rib. You can pour it over the meat, or it is great for dipping each bite of meat as you eat. We cheat on the au jus and purchase an au jus sauce concentrate to make our dipping gravy. We've used Johnny's French Dip and Classic Gourmet Au Jus Base. Both are excellent.

Another flavorful side to prime rib is horseradish or horseradish sauce. Horseradish breaks down the flavor of the meat to give it a lighter flavor. We cheat on this one too. Instead of making homemade, we purchase pre-made. There is a difference between horseradish and horseradish sauce. We've used both. I like both for different reasons but my husband prefers real horseradish. Horseradish is made with horseradish root, vinegar and salt. It is much stronger and has some heat to the flavor. Horseradish sauce is made with horseradish and added cream, sour cream or mayonnaise. It is creamier and milder in flavor. For Horseradish, we've used Silver Spring Prepared Horseradish and Beaver Brand Extra Hot Horseradish. (My husband loves the heat!). For horseradish sauce, we've used Inglehoffer Thick-n-Creamy Horseradish. If you don't want as much heat, definitely go with a horseradish sauce.

We cooked a 4 pound, boneless, prime rib and it gave us 6 generous portions, with a little bit of leftovers.

YIELD: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 Tbsp Sea Salt

1 Tbsp Pepper

1 Tbsp Garlic Powder

4 lb prime rib, boneless

Au jus concentrate

Horseradish, optional

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix the ingredients in a small bowl.

2. Rub the mixture over the entire prime rib.

3. Bake at 500 degrees for 5 minutes per pound.

4. Shut off oven and let Prime Rib sit for two hours.

NOTE: If you have a larger Prime Rib, you may need to adjust the amount of rub ingredients and cook time.